


No place I’d rather be

by guety



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Australia, Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, and he loves it, terra incognita 2.0, unknownland zine 2.0, victor gets bitten by a fish, victuuri honeymoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 08:07:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15814887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guety/pseuds/guety
Summary: Yuuri and Victor spend their honeymoon in Australia, where they have fun snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and get to be a sappy and very happy couple.My fic forTerra Incognita zine 2.0!





	No place I’d rather be

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! We can finally post our submissions to Terra Incognita 2.0, so here's mine! I've never been to Australia so I had to do a lot of research, but it was really fun to do and I really enjoyed writing this fic. Thanks to the zine mods for having me, it was awesome being part of such a beautiful zine <3
> 
> Special thanks also to Marr for betaing it and Maria for being my Australian consultant!

Yuuri had always liked the scent of the sea. It was a calming and nostalgic fragrance that reminded him of home - both his hometown of Hasetsu and the St. Petersburg where he currently lived. However, the sea before his eyes now wasn’t at all like the ones Yuuri was used to. Instead of the deep hue of Hasetsu Bay or the Neva River, its blue was clear and bright, almost aquamarine. It made Yuuri think of Victor's eyes.

The sound of a phone camera going off pulled him from his thoughts. Victor was by his side, smiling, phone in hand. The boat was moving quickly, creating a wind that messed with their hair. It left Yuuri looking like he had just gotten out of bed, but Victor, of course, looked amazing nonetheless.

“If you’re going to take a picture, warn me first,” Yuuri protested, not for the first time since the beginning of their trip. At this point, Victor must have had hundreds of candids of him.

“But you looked so perfect lost in thought like that, I just had to capture the moment!”

Yuuri returned Victor’s smile. There was no point in pretending he didn't love the way Victor paid so much attention to him, even if it resulted in a lot of pictures of him with a weird face and messy hair.

“Okay, but don’t upload that one to Instagram.”

“I won’t; this one is for my private collection.” He put an arm around Yuuri’s shoulders, giving him a little squeeze. “Maybe I’ll print them and make an album: ‘The wonderful honeymoon of Yuuri and Victor Katsuki-Nikiforov.’”

Yuuri chuckled. “It’s not going to be a very good honeymoon album if it’s just pictures of me.”

“I disagree, any album that’s just pictures of you would be a good album.” Victor extended his free arm, pointing the front camera of his phone towards them. “But let’s take a selfie together anyway!”

Yuuri looked at his reflection on the screen and made the V-sign, smiling.

“Say cheese!” Once he was satisfied with how the picture had turned out, Victor put his phone away and leaned on the railing, right by Yuuri's side. They both looked at the passing scenery, hand in hand, without attempting to make conversation.

It was strange, being on their honeymoon. Now that Yuuri thought about it, it was the first trip they did together just for fun. Up ‘til now, all their trips together had been either because of work - whether it was a competition or an ice show - or to visit Yuuri's family. In their usual day to day, they spent a lot of time in each other’s presence, but at the rink they were a skater and his coach, and even at home they were often occupied with their respectives routines and hobbies. They had never spent so much time together as a _couple,_ with no chores or obligations to distract them from each other.

Their time in Australia so far had been wonderful. When it came to tourism and shopping, Victor had much more energy, but he had made a travel plan that also catered to Yuuri’s interests and left enough time to rest, so even after ten days he still felt refreshed, rather than tired and overwhelmed. They had been to Sydney, the Outback, and then Brisbane, and Cairns, where earlier that morning they boarded the cruise along the Great Barrier Reef.

“We’ll reach the first mooring site soon,” Victor said after a while.

“Are you excited?” Yuuri asked to make conversation, although the way Victor kept smiling made the answer obvious.

“About seeing you in swimwear? Always.”

Yuuri laughed. “I mean the reef.”

“Well, yeah! It’s my first time snorkeling.” He balanced on the balls on his feet, eyes shining like a kid about to enter Disneyland. “The guide says that more than two thousand kinds of fish live in it. Isn’t that amazing?”

“Hmm, it does sound great.” The water was so clear and pristine, Yuuri could only imagine how easy it would be to observe fish in it.

Victor gave him a teasing smile. “I suspect you’re more excited about the Australian barbeque the cruise has planned for tomorrow.”

“I am looking forward to it,” Yuuri had to admit, “since we’ve heard so many great things about it.”

“I hope it doesn’t disappoint you. I don’t know if it’ll be better than yakiniku.”

“It is hard to beat yakiniku, but I’ll give it a chance.” He smiled. “It can’t be worse than vegemite, right?”

Victor grimaced. “Nothing can be worse than vegemite.” He had tasted the popular spread a few days ago during breakfast, and declared that Australians had to be crazy to eat that. Yuuri hadn’t dared to try it, but judging by Victor’s reaction, he guessed it was an acquired taste.

Soon enough, the boat started to slow down.

“Come on, let’s get changed!” Victor grabbed Yuuri by the wrist and dragged him to their cabin, almost tripping him in his haste. Yuuri didn’t even mind, his husband’s enthusiasm so contagious that he couldn’t help but smile.

Once the boat was safely docked on the mooring site, they were divided into groups by whether they wanted to scuba dive, snorkel, or tour on a glass bottom boat. Both Victor and Yuuri had agreed they wanted to swim and take a closer look at the reef, but neither of them found scuba diving all that appealing - Victor had said that depending on an oxygen bottle to breathe seemed too constricting, and Yuuri strongly agreed - so they went with the second group. After receiving some instructions on how to interact with the reef - don’t touch it and don’t harm it in any way - they were free to disembark and go their own ways, as long as they stayed close to the boat.

Fortunately, their cruise only allowed for forty-four guests in total, and they had exclusive access to a large part of the reef, so Victor and Yuuri could explore on their own without having to worry about bothering  - or being bothered by - other tourists. They swam side by side along the reef in slow, wide stokes. The waters around the reef were shallow, so Yuuri didn’t even need to extend his arm completely to touch the sand below them, and so clear that he had no trouble making out the shapes of all the different fish and the reefs around him, even without his glasses on.

“Should we settle on a spot?” he suggested. “The fish are more likely to come to us if we stay still.”

“Sure, good idea.”  Victor swam just a little ahead of him, moving closer to the reef. “How about here?” He pointed to a spot where the reef made a curve, forming a sort of bay just spacious enough for two men to fit comfortably.

“Looks good.” Yuuri took a spot right beside Victor, and let himself float, planting a hand on the sand to steady himself. The sea was very calm, so it was easy to stay still without having to hold on to anything.

“I’m going to take so many pictures!” Unlike Yuuri, who had left his phone at their cabin, Victor had stored his in a waterproof case worn around his neck. “I hope we get to see a clownfish.”

“Maybe we will if we pay attention to the softer corals.” Yuuri adjusted his goggles to double-check no water would leak in, and brought the tube to his mouth, making sure he could breathe normally before submerging his head.

They got as close to the reef as possible without actually touching it, until the corals were right in front of them, an explosion of shapes and colors unlike anything Yuuri had seen before. As a kid, he had explored the beaches near Hasetsu with Nishigori and Yuu-chan a few times and swam among the small fish that lived close to the shore. Back then, the sea had been so vast and full of life and wonders.  He had gotten used to it, growing up in a coastal town, but the beauty in front of his eyes now was of a completely different kind, much more varied and colorful than the one at home.

Several fish of vivid colors were coming and going around the reef, unbothered by the two pairs of eyes fixated on them. After a while, a group composed mainly of pink and orange fishes, none of them bigger than his thumb, started to swarm around Victor and Yuuri. Slowly, Victor reached out, opening up the palm of his hand as if inviting the fish to touch him. Soon, a couple of them swam closer, seemingly as interested in Victor as Victor and Yuuri were in them. Victor looked at the fish, then at Yuuri, and back at the fish, as if he couldn’t believe what was happening. They couldn’t talk without getting their heads off the water, and between the snorkel goggles and the fact that he wasn’t wearing his glasses, Yuuri couldn’t make out his expression all that well, but his excitement was evident in his body language. He kept his arm as still as possible in order to not startle the fish, but he couldn’t seem to entirely keep the rest of his body from moving, his feet flapping a little, the way Makkachin wagged her tail when they brought her treats.

 _You really fit here_ , Yuuri thought. Surely, most people would think that Victor looked his best when he was on the ice, but to Yuuri, he was the most gorgeous at times like this, when he was genuinely happy and just being himself. Just like the reef’s, Victor’s beauty was out of this world, and Yuuri didn’t think anything in the entire universe could hold a candle to him.

Suddenly, one of the fishes, a small, pink one, opened its tiny mouth and nibbled on Victor’s finger. Instinctively, Victor pulled back his hand, making all the fish run away, startled by the sudden movement.

“Did you see that?” Victor put his head above the water, sitting on the sand, and Yuuri followed him. “It bit me!” He waved his finger in front of Yuuri’s face, eyes wide and jaw hanging loose.

“Yes, are you okay? Did it hurt?” He removed his goggles to take a closer look at Victor’s finger. They had been told that most tropical fish weren’t dangerous, but what if they had been unlucky and run into one that was poisonous?  Didn’t they say that “everything in Australia wants to kill you”? Well, at least Victor wasn’t bleeding, and the bite didn’t seem to have left any marks.

“No, it tickled!” Victor’s face lighted up on a big, heart-shaped smile, the initial shock wearing off. “It was amazing!”

Yuuri smiled too, relieved. “Well, I’m glad the Living Legend was able to prevail over the tiniest of fishes,” he teased. “It’s a shame we can’t say the same about the spider incident the other day.”

“Is that how you speak to your husband on your honeymoon?” Victor took his hand to his chest in an exaggeratedly dramatic gesture, his voice all fake offense. “How awful, Yuuri.”

“Sorry, sorry.” He leaned forward to kiss Victor on the cheek. “I was just teasing - that spider was really scary.” Yuuri didn't hate spiders as much as Victor did, but that thing had been huge. Australian bugs were truly on another level.

“Say, the Great Barrier Reef is the only living organism that can be seen from space, right? “ Victor asked, unprompted. “So, in a way, it’s also a living legend, isn’t it?”

“I guess.”

“Then, you could say that today I’m the Living Legend in a living legend!”

“Vitya, that was awful,” Yuuri said, but he couldn’t help but laugh at the terrible joke.

“Oh, you loved it.”

“Mhmm, I wonder about that.” He kissed Victor again, this time on the lips, lingering before pulling back. “Should we keep exploring this other living legend, then? Maybe we’ll find your clownfish.”

“Yes, captain!” Victor exclaimed, adjusting his goggles before diving back into the water, with Yuuri following suit.

******

In the end, they didn’t get to see any clownfish, but that didn’t seem to sour Victor’s mood at all. He took plenty of pictures of all the fish and corals they encountered and, later that day, googled the ones he had liked better, sharing the facts he considered most interesting with Yuuri while Yuuri pretended not to notice the many underwater photos of himself now on Viktor’s phone.

They took a better look at all the pictures that night while having some drinks on the deck. Victor was slowly drinking a cup of Australian red wine, while Yuuri had opted for a pineapple juice. He had tried Australian wines in Sydney and they were truly good, but he felt pleasantly tired from all the exploring of the day, and he’d probably feel drowsy in no time if he had any alcohol.

“I think this one is my favorite,” Victor said, his phone displaying a picture of Yuuri swimming next to a group of corals, surrounded by fish of all colors. “I’m going to send it to Mama Hiroko.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.” Yuuri called or messaged his family every couple of days, to let them know they were fine and enjoying themselves, but he often forgot to take pictures, let alone send them. “I like this one.” He switched to a close up of Victor with a pair of butterflyfish. Yuuri himself had taken that picture, using Victor’s phone. “You should post it online.”

“Hmm.” Victor studied the photo. “You’re right, this one is good. You know, Yuuri, you’re a great photographer.”

“You’re just really photogenic - it’s pretty much impossible to take a bad picture of you.”

“I know, but the ones you take are particularly good.” He put an arm around Yuuri’s shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “Must be your unyielding love for me!”

“I do love you more than anyone does,” Yuuri said, feeling himself blush.

“Yuuri!” Victor nuzzled his neck. “Are you enjoying this vacation? Is it the honeymoon you always wanted?

 _The only thing I wanted in a honeymoon was to spend it with you_ , he thought.

In Australia, they had discovered a world like Yuuri had never imagined. They had seen beaches that seemed  taken directly from paradise, been to the desert in the Australian outback where the stars shone impossibly bright, and tasted foods Yuuri hadn’t even known existed. It had made him forget about medals and skates and programs. For the past two weeks, they had been just two people, doing the same things as the millions of tourists who came to Australia every year.

Truth be told, they had picked Australia as the destination for their honeymoon entirely by chance. They wanted to go somewhere neither of them had been to before, and had chosen randomly among the list of countries that fit that requisite. It could have been any other place, and yet, Yuuri couldn’t image having spent their honeymoon anywhere else. But most of all, he was happy he got to visit this wonderful country with Victor, who made everything all the more beautiful in Yuuri’s eyes.

Victor was staring at him, and Yuuri realized he hadn’t answered his question yet.

“Yes,” he said. “Yes, it’s been perfect.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and concrit are very appreciated <3  
> Feel free to follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/idrinkmyfriends) to know more about me and scream with me on occasion


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